In both male and female categories the team selectors have been able to
choose Britain's strongest squad for years. David Millar and Nicole Cooke are
the stars of the small squads which are packed full of talent and potential.

Surprisingly, very few fans would disagree with the discretionary selections
and most British fans are happy that the strongest riders are being sent to
represent their country and have high hopes for medals.

The BCF comment - “Please note that a discretionary selection is based on a
rider's ability to perform a team role, their experience at this level, their
current form, and their suitability for the course.”

Today we look at the mens road race team; while full listings for the other
teams are also included, they will be profiled tomorrow.

Elite Men Road Race, Sunday 12th October - 260km

Roger Hammond: National Champion, Automatic selection

David Millar: Most UCI points, Automatic selection

Max Sciandri, Discretionary selection

Charly Wegelius, Discretionary selection

The reserves who are all non-travelling are Mark Lovatt, Jamie Burrow, Julian
Winn and Jeremy Hunt.

Comment

A great blend of experience and talent from a four man team. Roger Hammond
has had a great season finishing in the top twenty of Paris Roubaix, winning the
British Road race championship with an epic solo ride and then continuing to get
good results including a stage and overall of the International UNIQA Classic
2003.

David Millar burst onto the racing scene as a raw talent when he won the TT
prologue of the Tour de l'Avenir, aged just 20 years old. Since then, in spite
of considerable success, there is still the feeling that Millar has not quite
lived up to his considerable talent. However, he rode a mature Vuelta (getting a
great road victory when he realised that Nozal was not to be denied in the TT
events) and will come out of the Vuelta in great shape for the Worlds.

Copyright Unipublic.

Max Sciandri will ride his last pro race at the event. The man from Derby
turned pro way back in 1989, and if his palmares are not full of victories it is
because at times he lacked that “killer touch.” Nevertheless he will become a
Directeur Sportif next season, leaving behind a saddlebag full of memories for
his fans - his bronze in the Olympic road race Atlanta, his Leeds Classic
victory in 1996, and more significantly maybe, the heart-stopping moment the
following season when Ferrigato “stole” Max’s win.

Always good for a telling quote (“you finish the Tour either in great shape
or completely knackered,” “I don’t mind being beaten - but by Bjarne Riis!
that is too much!”) Max has got himself in fighting shape in the Tour of
Portugal and Italian one day races and will no doubt be Captain on the road.
Always one of the most stylish and elegent riders in the peloton, the Daily
Peloton wish him every success for the coming years.

Sciandri in Azione! Paris-Roubaix

Charly Wegelius, like Max has spent much of his pro career in Italy. Earlier
this season Ian Melvin had a great chat with Charlie - here’s how it went -

By Ian Melvin

There are some riders who stand out in the bunch and then there are those
that just go about their business in a very unassuming manner. British Pro
Charly Wegelius is the latter. He knows his place in the bunch and gets on and
does his job - protecting his team leader in the mountains, first of all for the
all-conquering Mapei-Quickstep team and now at DeNardi-Colpack. But it wasn't
always like this for the likeable Wegelius.

As an amateur, Charly scored some big results including 3rd in the U23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege
and 2nd in the European U23 Time Trial Championship. Now in his fourth season in
the pro peloton, Charly has shown some glimpses that there may yet be more to
come and that this quiet, unassuming rider may well one day stand out once
again.

I recently caught up with Charly to talk about this year's Giro d'Italia and
his life as a pro.

Photo courtesy Charly Wegelius

IM: You've just completed your second three-week tour, the Giro
d'Italia. How was it and how did it compare to your first experience of last
year's Vuelta?

CW: I went into the Vuelta blind, and felt very intimidated by the
idea of racing three weeks. Coming into the Giro I knew that if I stayed
healthy, going the distance wouldn't be a problem. That gave me more confidence
to give it some stick on the stages that suited me.

IM: We saw flashes of some very good form including stage 7 where you
finished ahead of Marco Pantani. Did you find it hard to race knowing you had
this form but that due to team orders you couldn't show it?

CW: Waiting for Honchar at Terminillo was hard to do, because I was
faced with the chance of doing one of the best rides of my life, but it would
have meant taking big responsibilities for the whole race. I think that Sergio's
8th place overall more than justifies the tactics the team chose. I am paid to
help Sergio in the hills, and that is exactly what I did, and without my fall it
would have meant a good overall placing for me in any case.

IM: Can we hope to one day see you in the Tour?

CW: I certainly hope so, but there is time enough for that. I have
plenty to be getting on with in the meantime.

IM: Do your harbour dreams of one day leading a team in a major stage
race, or after four years do you think you're finding your niche within the
peloton?

CW: Dreaming is healthy, but being unrealistic is not. Being a leader
brings big responsibilities and demands a strong character, and even stronger
legs.

IM: You spent your first three seasons as a pro with Mapei-Quickstep.
That must have been some experience for a British neo-pro? How does life at
DeNardi-Colpak compare?

CW: Nothing can compare to Mapei, but De Nardi is a good place for me.
It is a small team, but is based on the ex-Polti team, so is as well organised
as any bigger team. My racing program has been very well thought out so far,
with no trips to Belgium or Northern France to get in the way of doing what I am
good at.

IM: Before signing for Mapei you spent a year riding for the Great
Britain World Class Performance Plan. Despite all the money being ploughed into
its development, all the success appears to be on the track. The only notable
new British Pro of late is Julian Winn (Fakta) who also showed well in the Giro.
Are the Brits simply not good enough or is it just going to take more time to
come through?

CW: British people have two legs and a heart just like anybody else,
and with some hard work and sacrifices they too can make it, as Julian has shown
this year. Unfortunately, as long as the only way to make it as a pro is to move
abroad at 17 and kill yourself in Europe, then the amount of people willing to
give it a shot will be limited to those really desperate to make it. The level
of races in this country at the moment cannot prepare people to race as a pro,
so riders turning pro will always be limited.

IM: How does actually being a pro compare to what you thought it would
be like back in your amateur days?

CW: When I was 14 I went to see the Kellogg's Tour at Roesdale Chimney
(Note - a 25% monster of a climb in England), and it looked like pretty hard
work. I was right.

IM: If it all had to end tomorrow, could you walk away satisfied or
has Charly Wegelius still got some unfinished business to take care of?

CW: Every year I inch a little further along, and the Giro this year
made me realise that perhaps I can go a little better than I once thought. I
don't know how much more I can do, only time will tell, but I have 5 or 6 more
years left so I have to make the most of it.

Thanks for taking the time to speak to the Daily Peloton, Charly. Good luck
for the rest of your season.

Will Britain once again have a cycling road champion? Image
courtesy Brian Townsley.